Improving Access to Behavioral Health

Forty-six percent of Americans will meet the criteria for a diagnosable mental health condition sometime in their life, and half will develop conditions by age 14.

This sobering statistic is according to a report published in the NIH National Library of Medicine. A 2018 SAMHSA study further states that nearly 1 in 5 American adults will have a diagnosable mental health condition in any given year.

A national 2020 mental health services survey indicates that 12,275 U.S. mental health facilities treated just 3.7 million people, the vast majority in an outpatient (< 24 hours) setting.

It’s a short walk to the conclusion that many people suffer from mental health issues that are not being treated. Some of the most common reasons for not receiving treatment are:

·????????Inability to afford the cost of treatment

·????????Lack of available services / beds

·????????Limited mental health education and awareness

·????????Social stigma associated with mental health and treatment

·????????Racial barriers to mental healthcare

COVID-19 brought Behavioral Health to the forefront, for sure, but the need for better mental healthcare has been clear and present for decades across the United States. One opportunity lies in addressing the second bullet above - improving access to services and improving patient outcomes with better facilities.

There is much we can do to improve access. We can start with the replacement and renovation of our national infrastructure of Behavioral Health Hospitals. Too many are woefully inadequate in terms of the number of beds, the age and quality of the buildings, their location, and the design of the care setting.

Staffing challenges persist as well. It is estimated that there are 350 individuals in the U.S. for every one mental health provider. Modern, well-located hospitals and treatment centers improve patient access, but they are also essential to competing for and attracting/retaining mental healthcare physicians, nurses, counselors, and therapists. It is a challenging job made less strenuous in a carefully designed environment that promotes wellness. ??

New hospitals require the investment of a lot of capital. Construction costs, material availability, and interest rates are the bane of a developer’s existence right now.?In the last few years, the cost to develop a new, 72-bed (all semi-private) Behavioral Health Hospital has escalated from the low-mid $300,000s per bed to well over $400,000 (depending upon geography). And land costs have joined the fray, as well.

And while it is easy to conjure images of the dreary “Lunatic Asylum” we’ve seen in the movies, thankfully, we have moved past that unfortunate era. Still, there are too many older hospitals in use today that subject patients and caregivers to large “wards” with long corridors, little or no natural light, centralized nurses’ stations behind walls or thick glass, and limited common areas with uninspiring finishes and furnishings. Not an ideal healing environment.

The good news is that new hospitals can be so much better than their predecessors. The challenge we face is at the intersection of cost-effective construction strategies and modern hospital design. With an experienced design, engineering, and construction team, it is most definitely possible. ?

On one hand, we strive to simplify the building geometry and site work, maximize repetition and standardization, scrutinize material dimensions, utilize prefabrication where practical, and specify simple, locally available, familiar materials and construction types.

On the other, we pay strict attention to design. These modern Behavioral Health Hospitals can be critical to a patient’s recovery by offering better acoustics and abundant natural and LED lighting in patient care areas where the staff is closer to the patient. Natural materials and humane furnishings affect patients in a way that promotes healing. Lounges offer “room to breathe”, and activity spaces and therapy rooms enable more effective treatment. Outside the nursing unit, gymnasiums, outdoor activity courtyards, and larger, attractive dining rooms offer patients a more diverse care setting. These dignified environments promote respect, participation in care, and trust.

Admission to a hospital is often stressful, and modern facilities can help reduce that anxiety. From a competitive standpoint, given a choice between private Behavioral Health Hospitals, patients and their families are likely to choose the better-designed facility.

We see the effects of mental illness in our own families, in the news, and in our community hospitals every day. The cost of not treating these patients is much greater than the investment in the resources needed to improve their health. It is impossible to be physically well if we are not mentally well; investing in better facilities is key to improving access and treatment outcomes.

Prevarian develops Post-Acute Care Hospital real estate for Post-Acute Care Hospital operators and assists them in building their national presence through market qualification and joint venture alignments. We find opportunities for market expansion because we understand the business of providing care and how it aligns with intelligent inpatient and outpatient facilities.